Ruggedized tablet POS is at a tipping point. According to a study by IHL Group, tablet POS sales will experience a growth rate of more than 9% over the next few years. The study also shows that more than 85% of the largest retailers in the U.S. will adopt mobile POS over the next three years, and 28% of retailers of all sizes will embrace mobile POS devices by the end of this year. Let’s take a look at four of the major reasons why businesses are embracing tablet POS.
Ruggedized tablet POS solutions allow merchants to instantly share price and other information with customers, potentially saving the sale and contributing to long-term relationship-building. Today’s customers are not willing to stand in store aisles, waiting for a sales associate to find out the price of unmarked items by looking them up on a stationary POS terminal at the front counter or consulting another staff member. They want instant answers to questions about the merchandise they may want to buy—but not until they know more about it. Any delay in obtaining this information may spur them to walk out of the store empty-handed and through the doors of the closest competing establishment.
Most ruggedized tablet POS devices leverage cloud technology for data storage, simplifying and speeding up access to price and product information. Data can be easily accessed on the fly, from anywhere in the store and in a matter of a few seconds. This not only increases the likelihood of saving the sale, it also helps to foster stronger customer engagement, in turn supporting the caliber of service that leads to repeat business.
Ruggedized tablet POS solutions enable faster, more efficient customer checkout, enhancing the shopping or dining experience. Few, if any, consumers are amenable to the idea of enduring long lines to pay for their purchases in retail stores. The same can be said about long lines and patrons of quick-service restaurants (QSRs).
But thanks in large part to cloud-based technology, as well as to hardware portability, tablet POS significantly shortens customer wait times in both of these situations. Instead of requiring that the customer checkout process occurs at the POS counter, retailers and restaurant operators can equip employees with ruggedized tablet POS devices that feature a payment acceptance component, typically a magnetic stripe reader for credit and debit cards and an EMV card reader. These devices can then be pressed into service to take orders and/or collect payments for goods or food. The end-result: More rapid customer throughput and decreased wait time, which boosts the caliber of customer service and discourages patrons from abandoning their shopping carts or deciding to eat at another QSR instead.
Ruggedized tablet POS leads to speedier returns and enhanced returns management. Just as retailers can harness ruggedized tablet POS hardware to accept payments in any location within the store rather than at a stationary checkout counter alone, they can utilize the devices to process merchandise returns wherever practical. Employees equipped with tablets can accept returns in store aisles and as customers wait in line for assistance at the front counter, as well as at strategically positioned “mobile returns stations” near shops’ front entrances. Returns are therefore processed at a higher speed than would otherwise be possible, increasing in-store efficiency and customer satisfaction alike.
Ruggedized tablet POS devices yield a high return on investment (ROI) Ruggedized tablet POS devices can perform a wide variety of functions. Mobile POS and accessing merchandise data beyond the checkout counter are just the tip of the iceberg; the units can also be used to engage customers by tapping into their information during the selling process, manage inventory, and much more. The low price and functionality of ruggedized tablet POS devices—coupled with the customer satisfaction they afford—adds up to a high ROI -. Additionally, ruggedized tablet POS can withstand the tough environments that retailers and restaurants typically operate in. Able to withstand extreme heat, extreme cold, drops, spills, and dust accumulations, ruggedized tablet POS will ensure that you get the most out of your return on investment.
No doubt about it—ruggedized tablet POS is here to stay. Although there will always be a place for stationary POS units in retail stores and restaurants, the advantages offered by tablets make them an additional asset to any establishment.
